The Prologue: Sorrow
by Hagaren Eeyore
Summary: Plz read this before reading Shadow of Repentance. It's midnight, raining, and Roy Mustang is sitting in front of his window when a visitor appears...sucky summary. Contains shounen ai RoyxHughes.
1. Chapter 1: Storm

Okay, like I said, I would post an actual fanfic rather than a single drabble. So here it is, my first FMA fanfic. It is a prologue because it's possible I will continue the story, and this would be the prologue. Yes, it will be a 12 chapter prologue. Sumthin wrong with that? I suppose there is. Oh well.It is based after the series, so yes there are **spoilers.** If spoilers scare you and you are afraid they will haunt you at night and eat you, don't read this. If they are your best friend and you luv to huggle and squeeze them to death then go ahead and read. It is sort of an AU fic, so far the only reason for that is when Ed and Al show up, they both have their bodies and are both in this world. So yah. I am afraid my lack of writing before this caused me to write a cheesy-depressing fic. So anywayz, enough of my babbling, read already, unless I scared everyone off. Contains shounen ai.

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Chapter 1: Storm **

The night was cold, terribly so. The rain fell in heavy torrents to an extreme, a mixture of wind, thunder and lightning accompanying it, only adding to the low temperature and overall feeling of the night.

Roy Mustang looked blandly out of his window at the pouring rain. He had no lights on at this late hour, and he should have gone to bed hours ago. He could hear the clock on the wall nearby. _Tick...tock...tick...tock..._ It has just recently struck the hour, marking it as twelve o'clock. And yet he continued to stare out his window, taking in the cold and the sound of the rain and thunder and flashes of lightning that burned into his vision for long moments afterwards.

Whenever it rained as heavily as this at night, any attempt at sleep would be interrupted by jolting nightmares, tearing him from his bed and setting him in from of this very window with a perfect view of the street, except for on nights like this when the rain was heavy enough to block his view. It had been like this as long as he could remember. There were just too many ways that the rain reminded him of things he'd tried so hard to put behind him.

He was trying to keep his mind and face blank despite the fact he was alone, and to keep all his focus on the atmosphere outside. He absentmindedly ran two fingers across his eyepatch, a habit he had gotten into recently. His ears picked up a noise that was most definitely not one related to the weather outside; was someone trying to open the door? Before he could even stand up, he heard the sound of splintering wood and his door slammed open; he could swear it opened hard enough to dent the wall behind it. He lost his blank stare and his faced switched to a more battle ready one, his hands already reaching for the gloves stowed in his pockets, his army trained reflexes at work. He supposed someone was trying to take out their revenge on him for whatever reason, on this night when it would be impossible to hear or see what was happening at the Colonel's house.

The rain was much louder with his door open, and all he could see in the rain and seemingly far-off streetlights was a dark silhouette. He stood in wait, hand poised at his side, ready to snap. The figure moved painfully slow, stepping once, twice, and on the third step they stumbled slightly, and they were close enough to seen.

Roy felt his body jolt in shock, and suddenly his hands were shaking too violently to maintain in snapping position. Before him stood Brigadier General Maes Hughes. Roy found he couldn't move for several eternal moments. When he finally regained control of his movements, Hughes hadn't moved an inch. Roy suddenly realized that the man was soaked to the bone, his hair mussed and dripping water into his eyes. And his face. One could not describe the look of sheer terror and hollow horror on his face. The Colonel soon found the same feelings beginning to well up from the pit of his stomach upon seeing that look upon his friend's face. His friend who _died..._

It was hard to think clearly, but the initial surprise had passed and he was able to digest a bit more of what was happening. He was about to step forward to aid his friend, comfort him, find out what the _hell_ was going on, when once again his mind was stopped short.

He was wearing black clothing; Skin-tight sleeveless shirt and shorts. And the red markings... Roy felt his heart drop into his gut and he couldn't breath. His mind melted into chaos. A homunculus? How? When? It wasn't possible! There were so many factors that made this not possible...The time and 'ingredients' it took for a homunculus to gain human shape, the alchemist stupid enough after all this to make one, the look on Hughes' face... He didn't have time to ponder any more than that, because it seemed the person in his doorway was finally moving.

"R-Roy...Please..."

His voice sounded weak and a bit strange, as if he had forgotten how to use it. After hearing his best friend's voice, after all this time, he couldn't help it. The tears began flowing of their own accord, he forgot anything else besides _Hughes is alive, he's here, and he needs your help._ Mustang ran the few feet to him and wrapped his arms around his soaked body.

"Maes...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

It felt good to be able to say his name again, but he found he couldn't say anything else. Suddenly the larger man's arms were wrapped around Roy, and he fell to his knees, dragging the Colonel with him. Hughes buried his face in his friend's chest and cried like a newborn, his mournful wails filling the night air and draining out the sound of the unrelenting rain.

**End Chapter One **

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Alright, I do have the next ten chapters of this finished, but if at all possible I hope to get some reviews on this first to see just how cheesy it is. Please excuse any grammatical errors, I tried my best! Constructive criticism welcome, as well as meaningless banter as long as it is positive happy-ness meaningless banter.One can never have enough meaningless banter. Flames reserved for the Flame Alchemist. 


	2. Chapter 2: Alive?

Okay, remember how I said I would wait for some review before posting more chapters? Well, I lied. I'm posting one more chapter because 1:I'm impatient, and 2: its also AU cuz Roy is still a colonel. I know I could have waited on mentioning that, but the voices in my head were pestering me to do it, and I always do what the voices tell me.

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**Chapter 2: Alive?**

After what felt like an hour of kneeling in his doorway with Hughes in his arms, Maes' cries finally began to slow down. Roy bit his lip, not wanting to leave Maes here, but he had to go get him a blanket or he would freeze to death... He let go and stood up, only to find Hughes grabbed his ankle. His grip was tight and he could almost feel the fear emanating from it.

"No...don't...where...don't leave!"

His grip became tighter, and Roy winced as pain shot up through his leg. He leaned back down, embracing Maes once more, and he could feel the pressure on his ankle release slightly.

"I don't know what's going on, Maes, but I promise I won't leave you. I'm coming right back. Don't worry..."

Hughes seemed slightly more calm, and reluctantly let go of his ankle. Roy stood up, and ran his fingers through Maes' hair as if in reassurance he wouldn't leave, and made his way to the closet.

The few minutes that Roy was gone were painfully slow for Hughes. He sat there miserably, shivering from a combination of the cold, wet and fear. He felt so empty, hollow, as if he were simply a shell. He just felt _wrong,_ and he hadn't stopped long enough to let himself think, to let himself realize what had happened... A shiver unrelated to cold shot down his spine. What _had_ happened?

Roy returned as quickly as possible with a heavy blanket, which he promptly wrapped around Maes' shoulders. Hughes unexpectedly stood up on his own and moved to the window seat on which Roy had been seated before his arrival. Roy went to close the door, only to find one of the hinges had been torn from the doorframe.

Mustang followed Maes after slight hesitation, sitting in a chair he pulled up to the window seat. Roy could still discern light tears running over Hughes' cheeks as he looked absently out of the window. After a few moments like this Roy felt he needed some answers. His look returned to the serious one he had honed for years. Despite his expression he wasn't sure what to ask first.

"How...are you alive?"

Maes' voice sounded slightly strained, most likely from crying. His shoulders moved slightly. A shrug?

"I'm not quite sure myself."

Roy bit his lip, restraining the urge to forget his inquiries and embrace Hughes again. God, how he had missed him...

He wasn't quite sure how to deliver the next question, but he needed to know. And if it wasn't really Maes...

"You...You're a Homunculus, aren't you?

Hughes seemed to shrink deeper into his blanket. Am I...a homunculus?

"... No...but... yes."

The corners of Roy's mouth drew back into a frown. How could you be a Homunculus but also not one? If you were a homunculus, you couldn't be a human too...Which would mean the man...no, creature in front of him was not really, human, not really Hughes. But he hoped, he needed with all his being for this to be Hughes, to know he wasn't dead, to know that this man who sounded and looked so much like his friend to really be Maes.

Roy found himself leaning forward for his next question, his face a foot away from Hughes.

"Are you... Maes Hughes?"

His reply was surprisingly punctual.

"Yes."

Roy's serious expression slid from his face, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Then-"

Hughes cut him off.

"I think my soul was bound to a Homunculus."

**End Chapter 2 **

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Okay, if there are any reviews by the time I post the next chapter I will reply to them then. Hopefully I can actually stand to wait long enough for reviews to show up and lecture me on the cheesiness. The voices seem satisfied for now. Flames will make the voices tell me to do unpleasant things. 


	3. Chpater 3: Array

Alright, well, I don't remember what I said last time for my a/n, and I'm too lazy to go check, so meh. Anywayz, this story got more hits than I expected, but not enough reviews. So I'm posting the next chapter in thanks to NubianQueen413, who was the only reviewer so farand wanted me to update soon. So thankies to yas, and I hopethis story doesn't demolish anyone's brain too badly...>.> Next chapter will be longer I believe.

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**Chapter 3: Array**

The next half hour was mostly fruitless.

It seemed Hughes couldn't remember much from before he had arrived at Roy's house. The last thing he seemed to remember was running through the rain, terrified. All he could remember from before that was his life up to the point he was killed. Killed...Hughes had died that night. And yet here he was, only his skin was pale and his hair seemed even darker than before.

They talked around in circles for a while, trying to figure something out or get Hughes to remember what happened, when a thought struck Mustang like a blow to the head.

"Maes...do you have a tattoo of Ouroboros?"

Hughes gasped slightly. The tattoo! He removed the blanket and looked down at his chest, pulling back the strange fabric.

There, right in the middle of his chest, was the dark red tattoo, moving up and down ever so slightly as he breathed. It felt so _wrong,_ everything about his body felt wrong, out of place.

Roy breathed in sharply as he saw the tattoo. It looked very different from the others he had seen... He lifted a somewhat steady hand to point at his chest.

"The array..."

Hughes looked at Roy questioningly and looked down before swallowing.

There was the normal array, but it was overlapped by another one, very similar to the one on Al's armor, only blacker...

"God, Hughes, your soul really was bound to a Homunculus..."

He spoke breathlessly, in almost a whisper, the words making him truly realize that this was really happening, that this wasn't just some hallucination or dream.

Maes replaced the shirt and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, shaking once again. All this made him sick to his stomach. Very sick. He swallowed, tasting bile at the back of his throat. Or was he really sick? He brushed away the thought.

He hadn't thought much of it until now, but seeing that patch on Roy's face...How much had changed since he had died? How long had it been? He suddenly realized that he should have asked Roy about his eye. He was his best friend and he hadn't even thought about his welfare, only himself. There was so much he had hidden, all the valuable information that could have taken him straight to Fuhrer, until it was too late.

"Roy, I'm sorry."

The Colonel's eye widened slightly in surprise before his features melded into a softer expression.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Look, we can talk tomorrow. You should get some sleep."

Hughes returned his gaze to the window. But there was plenty to be sorry about, so many things, both from back then and right now.

An afterthought occurred to Roy as he stood up.

"Oh, and Gracia and Alicia are fine. I can take you there if you'd rather stay with them..."

Roy frowned, a wave of emptiness washing over him. He didn't want Maes to leave. He felt something else as well...jealousy? Probably because his best friend just came back to _life_ and he wanted to spend more time with him.

Roy expected a joyous reaction from Hughes at the mention of his wife and much-loved daughter, but instead a frown crossed his face and his eyebrows drew close together in concentration.

"Gracia... Alicia..."

There was a moment of silence before Hughes broke away from whatever his thoughts were and shook his head.

"That's alright...it's good to know they're safe, but...I don't want to hurt them by just popping up on their doorstep. Besides..."

He sat up a bit straighter and smiled, and a small part of the old Hughes shone through.

"I'm going to work tomorrow. Everyone must miss me, right?"

**End Chapter 3**

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Yes I know, I can't make up titles. Okay well, I know there's something I'm forgetting to mention again...hmm...oh well. If I remember, I will add next chapter (if I remember then.) So anywayz, to reply to reviews cough I mean review-

**NubianQueen413:** Aw, yes, they are good together, luvvles them , thanks for tha hugs huggles back Yah, his eye makes me sad too sob But it looks sorta cool and mysterious...humm...but it probably hurt for a while O.o anywayz thanks for reviewing!

Plz review, even if it is just to say Grape. Because grapes are teh yummers. Mmm. Flamers won't get any grapes.


	4. Chapter 4: Morning

Okay, I remembered something I kept forgetting! -parties- -ahem- So yah, this is kinda late but-

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. If I did, I would have been mobbed to death by other obsessed fangirls wanting the rights to FMA.

So yah. Also, I realized only now I spelled Elysia as Alicia for the entire story. Either way works I suppose, but just so you know. Sorry 'bout that.

Over 90 hits and still only one review. -sigh- Oh well. I suppose I should just post the entire things here. Hmm, I still have to finish the ending to chapter 12. I suck at endings. -sob- Well, enjoy. Or be utterly disgusted. If that's the case, this probably isn't the place for you. Unless you like being disgusted. Hmm. -scuttles away- If there are spaces between words mysteriously missing, you can blame ffn for that. Okay, okay, I'll stop babbling now.

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**Chapter 4: Morning**

Roy slowly opened his eyes. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep out of them and glanced at his clock. He had an hour before work. As usual. He stretched his arms and began to step out of bed when the events of last night fell on him like a lead weight.

He twisted around to look at the couch at the opposite end of the room. On it lay Hughes, fast asleep. Last night he had dried his friend off and led him up to bed just as the rain was slowing down to a drizzle. They had both fallen fast asleep, Hughes on the couch with a new blanket and Roy in his bed. He felt slightly guilty at not letting Maes have the bed, but he had insisted it wasn't necessary.

He was about to sneak out of the room and prepare for work, thinking he would leave Hughes here to sleep, when he remembered his words from last night.

_" Don't you dare leave me here tomorrow. If you do, l swear I will chase you to work looking like this." _And he had gestured to the strange clothing before immediately dropping off to sleep.

Roy chuckled slightly and turned on his heel, stepping lightly to the far end of the room. He found himself standing next to Maes, looking down at his half-covered body. He had only just realized how truly disturbing it was to see his friend look so pale and different, and from his slightly open mouth he could see his too-sharp teeth.

The sunlight was creeping over the edge of the window and shining into the room, the rays falling across Hughes' body. The light glinted off his darkened hair and it seemed to sparkle. He realized how...different Maes looked without his glasses.

Roy sat carefully on the very edge of the sofa and watched Maes' chest move up and down slowly as he breathed. He reached out and ran his fingers through Maes' hair as he had done last night. The feeling of his hair through his fingers...

Being the annoying bastard he had been in his last lifetime, Hughes chose that moment to open his eyes.

Roy yelped and leaped to his feet, drawing his hand back as fast as possible. Maes blinked groggily with his infamous oblivious look plastered on his face, the one he would use when someone inquired as to why a two-by-two picture of his daughter was sitting on their desk.

He mumbled groggily and rubbed his eyes before looking up. He looked a bit puzzled now.

"Roy...?"

Roy sighed inwardly, he hadn't noticed. Seeing the slitted purple eyes looking up at him made him feel a bit queasy though.

Hughes' eyes widened and he shot to a sitting position. Everything that had occurred shot back to him, only he still couldn't recall what happened before last night. He moaned and brought a hand up to grasp his head. This was all making his head hurt...Or was that why it hurt? His head ached as badly as a hangover...Maybe he had been drinking and none of this really happened, he wasn't shot that night, he was living happily with his family.

He sighed. He knew that wasn't the truth. But- hell, why wouldn't this damned headache go away?

Roy stood silently as his friend registered what was happening, and a worried look crossed his face as he saw him clutching his head like that.

"Maes? Are you alright?"

Hughes waved his free hand as if to say he was fine, and was about to say so when the pain in his head blossomed further and he felt his stomach churning.

He gasped in pain and clutched his stomach before just barely dragging himself over the arm of the couch to vomit onto the floor.

"Maes!"

Roy rushed forward and knelt down next to him, placing one hand on his back and setting the other on the couch, to find that it was grasped by Maes' hand as soon as he placed it.

Roy gently rubbed his back until he was finished, at which point he rolled back over onto his back, still clutching Roy's hand, rather firmly.

Roy moved his other hand to grasp Maes' with both hands. It was slippery with sweat. He waited for his breathing patterns to return to normal before speaking.

"You should stay here and rest today. You're obviously not well. I don't know what happened to you, but you need to rest."

Roy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, worry evident in his voice. However, Maes did not look like he was about to stay here anytime soon.

"No Roy, I'll be fine. I'm feeling better already."

And he was, the headache and nausea already fading to slight pangs. But he wasn't about to stay here, alone, knowing that everyone outside believed he was gone forever. He needed to let them know he was alive...even if it wasn't in his true body.

Roy sighed and nodded, normally he wouldn't cave in so easily, but he knew how Maes was.

"Alright, but could you let go of my hand? I think you're cutting off the circulation."

Hughes realized he was still grasping Roy's hand, and promptly let go, mumbling an apology. Was that a blush?

"Sorry...I guess I don't know...my own strength anymore..."

Maes frowned, knowing it would not be easy adjusting to this body. Roy was about to speak when Hughes threw off his blanket and stood up, stretching.

"Alrighty then, Roy. Let's get to work! I may not really have to do any work until the military realizes I'm alive, but what the heck, not like I'd do all that paperwork anyway. By the way, do you have any of those pictures of Alicia I gave to you? I wonder how much she's grown!"

Roy smiled to himself as Hughes babbled on like his old self as he walked out in the direction of the bathroom. He knew there were still a lot of things to explain to Hughes, such as how much time had passed, how the Homunculus were gone and Edward and Alphonse had their bodies back, and how at the moment Roy, Ed and Al were running the country in a joint effort since the Fuhrer's 'disappearance,' while they tried to decide on how the government would work from now on.

He stepped over to clean up the bile, assuring himself that there was no sign of the red stone in it. That would be bad in various ways that he didn't want to think about right now.

It would take some getting used to that Maes was technically a Homunculus...wait, didn't homunculus have 'certain' abilities...?

As if to answer his question, he heard a surprised yelp from the bathroom.

**End Chapter 4**

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Hum...not much to say here...please review! PLEASE! You there! Yes you! -grabs ankle- Don't read without reviewing, whats wrong with you? NOOOO! Oh well. -much sighing- I should write something less depressing, or whatever the heck this think is, because I tried to categorize this story and it was just what the floop does this go under? So yah. please review. I guess you can flame too. See what I'm having to sink to? Meanies. -sticks tongue out- Nuu don't leave! 


	5. Chapter 5: Form

omg I got REVIEWS! XD Thank you to the reviewers, I will reply at the end of the chapter.

Argh, this chapter is painfully short. Oh well. I might submit chapter 6 after this just because of the painfully short-ness. (Who so small you could knock him down with a blade of grass?) cough I'm not good at making up Ed spazzy moments. Oh well. Not to mention its kinda badly written. I don't think I spent very much time trying to make this chapter sound legit. I can't remember. What's my name again? -cough-

Disclaimer: FMA is not mine, therefore you will not find the rights to it in my house. I swear. You won't. Really.

Claimer: I own the many empty cans of soda on my deskthat helped me live through writing this thing.

Alright well, yes I know, once again my inability to make upchapter names has struck. Beware. I mean, who names a chapter 'form?' Kinda misleading if you ask me. Not much of a chapter to be mislead on though. Gah, I'm starting to not make sense. Now go I'll.

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**Chapter 5: Form**

Roy ran straight into the bathroom, to find it was empty. He looked around a couple more times to make sure, but it was definitely empty. He suddenly heard his name being called from downstairs. He yelled in reply.

"Maes? That you?"

"No, this is your toilet speaking! Of course its me!"

Roy ploughed down the stairs and ran into the kitchen where he heard Hughes' voice coming from. He was standing there, looking out-of-place with his clothes and red markings, but other than that there was nothing strange. And yet Maes had an odd look on his face. He pointed up at the ceiling. Roy realized with a bit of a shock that they were standing under the bathroom.

"Uh, Roy? I just fell through the ceiling. Is that bad?"

He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing, followed by Hughes' hearty laughter. He suddenly realized that even though Hughes had always been an abundant source of humor, he barely ever laughed himself. He had a nice laugh, deep and full, but not too deep.

After a while they calmed down, and Roy glanced at the clock. He had twenty minutes to be in his car and gone. Well, I think this is a viable excuse to be late, he thought, glancing at his fiend.

"Hughes, can you take on a more human-like form? I mean like the Fuhrer's secretary did, and... well..."

He decided not to tell him about the Fuhrer for now.

Maes turned sharply to look at Roy.

"So you know about her...?"

He realized that as far as he had known, Maes hadn't known about the Homunculus at all. Only... he had been hiding things from him... He'd have to ask him how much he had known later.

"Yeah."

"Alright...well..."

Hughes took a deep breath and simply thought about changing to how he looked before, and felt a strange sensation. Before he knew it his skin was less pale, his hair was slightly less black and he was wearing his old uniform. Roy watched in silent awe as the transformation took place.

A grin slid over Roy's face.

"Well then, Brigadier General Hughes, let's go get ready for work."

Roy walked off towards the downstairs restroom whiles Hughes just stood there, a dumbfounded expression plastered to his face.

"Brigadier... General!"

**End Chapter 5**

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**Now what you've all been waiting for...what? you weren't waiting anxiously for this moment to arrive, counting the seconds until you couldread my a/n? Oh well. 

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** Yes I know, why'd he have to die? -sob- Well actually, it could be considered a plot device and -slaps self- Stupid plot devices...

**NubianQueen413:** Wow, you really like reviewing my story, dontcha? XD Well That's good I suppose. coughkeepreviewingcough

Ah yes, we've all thrown our socks at the T.V. at one point or another in our lives...

I think everyone should return hugs. Come on peoples! Spread the luv! -huggles abound-

Patience, oh wait, never mind, shoulda found out his ability from the chapter already...unless I write so badly that you can't figure out the stuff crucial to the main plot...that wouldn't be good, now would it? O.o

--

Thank you for your reviews, and to everyone, please R&R! Flamers should know better than to play with fire -tsk tsk- But I haven't recieved any flames yet, so that's good.

P.S. I now have all 12 chapters of the prologue finished! Although as I said, I'm no good at writing endings, and it just sorta ended up...bleh-y...But now maybe I will be motivated to write the main story! Thankies!


	6. Chapter 6: Surprise

Aww, c'mon people, you're no fun! Gettin a lot of hits, and even got added to someone's alert list, but you won't review? -sob- I may not check here as often in the future due to marching band practices starting and all, but I should have plenty of time at home until school starts. But I'll have less time to write. Not that you'd care tho, since I already have the entire prologue written.

Disclaimer: I disclaim. yah, thats a new one alright. -sigh-

Well, I am seriously about braindead now. Had too much sugar today and now I can't think. -drool- Please R&R!

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**Chapter 6:** **Surprise**

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to Central headquarters, albeit ten minutes late. Roy glanced at Hughes from the driver's seat. It was reassuring to see those golden eyes behind those glasses rather than the eerie Homunculus eyes.

He had explained how Hughes had been promoted two ranks after his death, and, in heavydetail, explainedhow he would strangle him if he passed him in the ranks again. Hughes had just laughed, and Roy had said he was probably going to be Fuhrer soon anyway.

"Oh? And how does that work?"

Roy remained silent for a moment before shrugging.

"You know, the usual way."

They laughed again, and Roy felt content for almost the first time since Hughes had died.

Now the troublesome part came. They arrived at Central, and Roy walked up the steps into the building, Hughes walking right behind him as if the dead came back to life every day to go to work.

Most soldiers didn't notice because they hadn't known Hughes, but a small number stopped and gaped, almost dropping their guns as they patrolled. Roy ignored them completely, his usual serious mask on, while Hughes would wave cheerfully and greet them.

He stepped into the break room (or nap room, as Havoc lovingly named it) and stopped. As always, his subordinates were all there,refusing to touch their paperworkuntil the Colonel arrived and ordered them to. Looking around at the various couches, chairs and tables, he saw that Havoc was laying on one of the couches, staring at his cigarette as if he didn't smoke bloody24/7. Fury and Farman were playing cards at a table while Breda sat watching them, looking bored. Hawkeye was nowhere to be seen, probably waiting in his office to lecture him on punctuality. He was, after all, ten minutes late.

He stood there for another minute or so until Havoc tore his eyes away from his preciouscigarette long enough to look at the Colonel.

"Well Mustang? You gonna order us to work or what?"

Waiting for this queue, the others all turned to look at the colonel.

And Hughes popped out from behind him and held up a hand in a 'hello' gesture.

"Hey there guys! How ya been?"

The next few moments were completely silent.

Havoc was the first to react, leaping his feet, his cigarette dropping from his mouth to land on the carpet. He pointed at Hughes as if doing that would magically explain everything.

"Eh- Huh- Wha- When did you-... You're alive!"

Everyone else leapt from their seats and followed Havoc, who was already jumping over tables to get to the door. They all ran to Hughes, fighting over who would ask the questions that were on everyone's mind. Instead they all tried to speak overtop one another.

"How did you survive? Where have you been? We've missed you! I knew you weren't really gone! Do Gracia and Alicia know? You don't have any pictures of Alicia with you, do you? Do you need anything? What's your favorite color? What the hell?"

"Enough!"

Roy's voice rang out over the commotion, and they froze, knowing by his tone of voice and position of his hands that he could easily burn them to a crisp if he wanted to. And he looked very much like he wanted to.

They all leapt back, still looking dumbfounded and overjoyed and tearful at Hughes' sudden return.

Hughes coughed and straightened his now slightly crumpled uniform before slapping Roy on the back in a friendly manner.

"Aw, come on now Roy, no need to be hasty."

Roy sighed and lowered his hand, looking over his men. They were standing at attention now, but they looked restored, despite the disbelief and tears evident on their faces.

"As you can see, Brigadier General Maes Hughes will be joining us."

Despite himself he let his expression slip to reveal a grin and his eyes shone with unshed tears. Hughes was really back from the dead.

**End Chapter 6**

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-coughreviewpleasecough- I will openly accept flames now! I will huggle them and squeeze them and name them fooblebuggins, just REVIEW! -sob- 


	7. Chapter 7: Admittance

The niceness of **Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind** has caused me to go ahead and post the next chapter! Thank you for the kind words...uh...can i call you Shinobi for short? XD

So yes, guess what! There is actually shounen-ai in this chapter! Who'd have thought?

Despite the fact it is sucky shounen ai and I don't think I really gave my best effort for it (I'm serious) it is still shounen ai. I'm hoping in the main story(if I get around to writing it) that I willput more effort into the yaoi scenes and maybe be better at writing them.So read it and be skippy-yippy or bleh-y or whatever yah feel like bein' at the time. My braindeadness has returned. Ugh.

Disclaimer: -sigh- Must I really? -Voice in Head: Fuwahahahahaaaa yes. -Me: -siiiiiiigh- I do not own fma or roy or hughes or any of its characters -drawls on in monotone voice-

Okay, pleasepleasepleasePLEASE don't ask how I came up with the title for this chapter. If you do, I will shoot myself here and now. There's not really a reason, my brain will just implode if I have to make up a ligitimate title right now.

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**Chapter 7: Admittance**

As soon as the Colonel stepped into his office Hawkeye poised herself, ready to begin her lecture. Then Hughes walked in, and before Riza had time to begin she had wrapped herself around the Brigadier General, actual tears flowing from her eyes.

The colonel would have let her finish, but for some reason it made him uncomfortable to see someone else hugging him. He coughed, and Riza let go, wiping the tears from her cheeks before saluting.

"Welcome back sir. It's...good to have you back."

And she promptly left the room.

Hughes watched her go, scratching the back of his head.

"Jeez, didn't realize I had become so popular."

He turned back to Roy, his face becoming more serious.

"Roy, I think you need to explain some things to me. Such as that eyepatch... What the hell have you been getting yourself into while I was gone?"

Roy sighed and locked his door, and he sat at his desk while Hughes sat on the couch in his office. And he explained everything that had happened since he had died.

His face was serious through most of it. When he heard about the Fuhrer really being a Homunculus, his face twitched into a sort of 'I was afraid so' look. When he got to where he confronted the Fuhrer about his secretary, knowing he was a Homunculus, and had then started an uprising with Armstrong's help, Hughes slammed his fist onto the couch.

"Roy, you know you were acting stupid, right?"

Despite the fiercer tone in Hughes voice, Roy grinned.

"Oh, that wasn't the only stupid thing I did."

He explained his assault on the Fuhrer in detail, ending with how Archer aimed one last shot at him, causing him to lose his eye and disfiguring part of his face.

Hughes stood abruptly.

"What the hell were you thinking? You know better than to run headfirst into things like that! You knew what would happen!"

Roy stood as well, knocking his chair back.

"What did you expect me to do? Sit back and watch as he turned this country into a graveyard, trying to create the Philosopher's Stone? Should I have just continued to follow him, shedding innocent blood here and there because he ordered me to? Is that what I should have done?"

He couldn't help it, he was almost to tears by now, but he held them back, looking down at his desk, his fists clenched.

He felt hands grab onto his shoulders and he looked up, finding himself face to face with Hughes. To his surprise, he saw tears running down Maes' face. He spoke softly but sternly.

"You could have died. Would you have done that if I was still alive?"

Roy found himself speechless for a moment. He bit his lip.

"It was all I could do."

Before his brain could register what had happened, Hughes had drawn him into his arms, embracing him tightly. Once his brain caught up with him, he gingerly lifted his arms before returning the hug.

They stood there for an eternity, just holding each other. When it was finally over and Hughes let go, Roy was still trying to hold on. Maes chuckled lightly before taking hold of his hands and making him remove his grip, but he didn't let go of his hands. Roy looked down again, this time the tears falling freely from his good eye. He didn't like feeling this vulnerable, but it felt refreshing in some way. He could feel Maes letting go of his hands. Before he had the chance Roy pulled his hands towards himself, dragging Hughes closer and planted his mouth firmly on his lips. He was only vaguely surprised when Hughes closed his eyes and returned his the kiss, wrapping his arms around him once again. Another eternity passed before they were forced to stop for air, and Hughes smiled, placing a hand on his lips as if to make sure they were really there.

"It's good to be back."

**End Chapter 7**

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Oi, replying to review:

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** I'm glad you like it, I had just been thinking, since homunculi aren't really human, they can be transmuted like anything else right? So why not bind a soul to one? And then I was angsting over Hughes being dead and so this thing spawned from that. It gets freaky later on, I wonder what I was on at the time? Probably lack of caffiene. -sigh-

Look out peoples, the next chapter's a doozy, probably the longest chapter in the entire story. I think its about seven pages long in Word. Hopefully I will get more reviews by then -sigh- Review before I get stuck in a permanent sigh! review pleeeeeeeaaaase! I will luv u forever and ever! -puppy eyes-


	8. Chapter 8: Lies

Wow, am i really already uploading chapter eight? Only four more and I'll have to start writing the main plot...

Like I said, veeeery long chapter compared to the others. Go get some caffiene before you read. Share plz? >.>

I might as well just upload all the chapters. Nah. I think I'll leave ya hangin' for a while.

Listento me, talking like people actually read this shtuff. Meh.

Don't let the title scare you. It just sorta fits, or at least in my twisted mentally unstable mind it does. Read on I suppose.

Disclaimer: -sob- I dun wanna! fma's not mine.

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**Chapter 8: Lies**

Edward and Alphonse Elric had both been out on a mission at the time of Hughes' arrival at Central. They were to return later in the day, and they were now headed towards the Colonel's office. Alphonse was not yet a state alchemist, for the exams weren't for a while, but seeing as he was one of the people acting as replacement Fuhrer for the moment, he was treated like one and still went with his brother on missions.

Despite the fact they were working together to run the whole damn place, Ed and Roy still didn't get along very well, Roy still poking fun at Ed's lack of height (Who's there? Sorry, Fullmetal, Black Hayate was blocking you from view.) And Ed still retaliating in his normal way (Who's so small they can't reach the bathroom sink even on tip-toes?). So when he finally made it to his office, his brother stopping to wait outside (as usual), he charged in, all his attention on Mustang. He slammed the door behind him, because if he didn't, their shouting would draw people's attention away from their work and Riza would often charge in and shoot something. Ed vividly remembered the once in a lifetime moment where Hawkeye's aim was off and the bullet hit Ed's metal arm, ricocheting out the window. The window had been closed at the time. He was still finding bits of glass stuck in his hair.

"Alright, Bastard Colonel, here's your goddamned report!"

He all but slammed the report down onto his desk, causing a few stray documents to flutter to the floor. He could smash the desk if he wanted to, seeing as since he had returned his limbs to normal he had began strapping a metal contraption to his arm so that he could transmute it into a weapon or whatever he needed. Needless to say it was heavy and took a lot of training to get used to and strengthen his arm. But he had insisted so Winry had created a special alloy for him and designed it to fit his arm. Roy looked up from his work. Ed was a bit taken aback to see that his expression was serious, not in his 'time to play with Edward' way. Despite his loathing of the Colonel's attitude towards him, he respected the man when he wasn't making fun of him.

"Colonel...?"

He suddenly sensed someone else in the room, now that he wasn't only paying attention to the Colonel.

"Oh, Hey there Ed. How have you been? I heard you got your limbs back."

Ed slowly turned to look at the couch, already knowing what he would see. Without thinking he sprinted over and grabbed the hem of Maes' uniform. Roy immediately stood up, his chair scraping harshly against the floor before falling with a loud clunk.

"Fullmetal!"

He continued to hold him like that, shaking with anger.

"You aren't Hughes! We all know that the dead don't come back! We know too damn well!"

Ed clapped his hands and placed his hand on the modified steel, transforming it into a blade. At this Roy stepped briskly forward, hand poised to snap.

"Edward Elric, I order you to stop!"

After Ed had released him to clap his hands, Hughes had dropped back onto the couch. He knew that Ed really meant to kill him. After all that boy had been through he couldn't blame him... The dead didn't come back to life...

Suddenly his head began to spin and he felt sick again. He grasped his head.

"..Roy..."

Ed stopped, having been ordered to so fiercely and seeing the man (who definitely couldn't be Hughes) suddenly look very ill.

Roy ran to Maes' side, once again placing a hand on his back.

"Are you sick again?"

He simply nodded, the movement making him feel worse. Roy had a bucket in his office for various reasons, this usually not being one of them, but he grabbed it and placed it in front of Hughes just in time.

Edward watched all of this; his arms limp at his sides. What the hell was going on here?

Roy tore his eyes away from his friend long enough to acknowledge Ed. Of course, the boy would be expecting answers.

"Ed, this is Hughes. I know it seems impossible, but it's him."

"It _is_ impossible!" He didn't bother to re-transmute the blade, which swung about dangerously as he moved his arms. " You know better than that! How do we know that Envy didn't find a way back and this isn't him in disguise?"

"Ed, you don't understand, this is definitely Hughes-"

"Like hell!"

Edward swung around, not noticing that Hughes was sitting up again. His arm swung around with the weight of the steel and the blade was headed for Hughes' chest before he realized what he had done. Hughes' eyes widened. There was an eerie light as the blade passed right through him like a butter knife through water. All three stared in shock. Hughes and Roy because they knew what happened and were trying to register it, Ed because...

"Homunculus..."

He turned sharply to Roy after re-transmuting his blade, anger burning fiercely in his eyes.

"Roy, what have you done?"

Roy shook his head, face somber.

"I didn't do anything. He showed up at my door."

"Whether that's true or not, you should know a homunculus when you see one!"

Hughes sighed, undoing his human form and returning to his homunculus body. Ed turned and stared. Before he had the time to react without thinking again Hughes lifted his shirt to reveal the Ouroboros tattoo, along with the array inked over it.

Ed found his legs couldn't support him anymore and he fell backwards, supporting himself with his hands.

"That...array... his soul..."

Roy nodded.

"His soul was bound to a homunculus."

Ed shook his head violently in disbelief.

"Its not...possible..."

However he knew that it may very well be possible, and apparently it was, because here was Maes Hughes, alive in Roy's office. It really was him. He was alive... This fact slapped Ed in the face. He found himself standing up and throwing himself onto Hughes, crying uncontrollably.

"Hughes...you're alive...!"

At this time Alphonse peeked in, wondering what all the commotion was. He could have sworn he heard Hughes' name, and if he was brought up while they were fighting that would be going too far...

What he saw astounded him. Roy standing there, looking somewhat gloomy but smiling, with Ed hugging a man that looked like a homunculus, but...

"Hughes!"

Al rushed forward, falling over his brother to hug them both. The three laughed, and Roy watched them, sighing inwardly with relief.

After they laughed for a while Ed became slightly more serious, but he was still smiling.

"How did this happen?"

Hughes looked down at those strange clothes that still disturbed him.

"I don't remember."

"What?"

"He said he doesn't know!"

Roy's outburst surprised Ed, but he brushed that off.

"Do you remember anything? Even the smallest bit of information could help."

Hughes' face melted into concentration. After a few moments, he shook his head.

"I just remember running through the rain, completely terrified, and ending up at Roy's house."

Ed nodded. So that was why he was with Roy.

"Could you have been running from something?"

"Maybe...I'm not sure."

"Why were you sick just now?"

"I don't know."

"Are you... vomiting any red stone?"

Hughes looked at Roy, his eyes wide, but Roy shook his head. He sighed with relief and leaned back on the couch.

Ed crossed his arms, deep in thought. This wasn't getting much anywhere, but he did at least learn that somebody or something might have seriously scared him. But someone had to have created the Homunculus and bound him to it...

"You know we're gonna have to find out who did this."

Ed glanced at Hughes as he spoke.

"Its extremely likely...that you have ingested the Red Stone before."

Hughes bit his lip and looked down at the ground. It felt strange having Ed talk to him like this. But strange definitely wasn't anything new today.

Ed sighed and looked straight into Hughes' eyes, shivering slightly at their purple snake-eye appearance.

"Hughes...it was our fault that you were... killed in the first place. I promise to find out who did this. Although, I'm not sure what we should do when we find who it was..."

Roy stepped forward and sat down next to Hughes.

"We should probably find out why they did it. And possibly...how."

"I'll help too."

Alphonse added his part. Hughes had always been so kind to them, and his wife and kid...wait, his wife and kid!

"Hey, have you told Gracia and Alicia yet?"

Hughes twitched. Roy glanced at him, concern flashing over his features for a split second. A smile returned to Maes' face, but the emptiness of it made Roy sick to his stomach.

"Nah, I didn't want to freak them out. I'm sure they won't mind waiting a little longer. After all, I died."

Roy turned to face Maes, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at his him. As he suspected, rather than look at Roy he looked away to his left, a sign that he was lying or hiding something.

"Maes, is there something you're not telling us?"

Hughes pulled his face away and looked towards Roy's desk.

_-There was smoke everywhere. He couldn't see, he could barely breathe in it. He thought he heard people talking. He couldn't make out the words. Trying to stand up, he found he could do so easily. He looked around, trying to focus, to see something, anything, when a brilliant light appeared. The smoke began to evaporate, and he could hear a woman screaming... –_

"Maes! Maes!"

He suddenly realized his face was being slapped, and he looked up to see Roy, Ed and Al standing over him, and Roy stopped hitting him. Wait, over him...?

He sat up and soon realized he was on the floor. When did that happen? Wasn't he sitting on the couch?

Roy looked relieved, then his face hardened and he stood up.

"Don't scare me like that. Your face just went blank and you passed out on the floor."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

Roy watched him carefully. That was definitely an absent-minded answer.

Hughes watched the ground as if he expected it to move, thinking about what just happened. Who had screamed? He could have sworn he had heard their voice before...

"Yo, Hughes. You remember anything?"

He jumped and looked up at Ed. Damn, that kid was perceptive.

"Maybe, not really anything important...it was just a lot of smoke, a strange light, and someone screaming..."

Ed raised an eyebrow.

"I'd call that important. Tell us if you remember anything else. We gotta go."

He pointed his thumb towards the door as if to prove he needed to leave and made his way out. Alphonse followed close behind. Ed stuck his head in once more.

"Bastard Colonel?"

"Fullmetal Gnome?"

"...Good luck."

And he was gone, leaving behind a dumbfounded Colonel and Brigadier General. Roy shrugged it off and went back to Hughes, giving him a hand.

He gladly accepted it. Once he was standing, he brushed himself off and morphed to his human form. Roy looked at him oddly for a second.

"Can you do that to change into other things too? You know, like that one homunculus, Envy?"

Hughes shrugged.

"Nope. I tried. No go. Seems I can walk through walls though."

Roy nodded, stifling a chuckle. He already knew that, but Hughes had a way of making things sound humorous.

"So do you want to visit your family?"

Hughes looked away again.

"Does this reluctance to visit have something to do with 'us'?"

Hughes vision snapped to Roy. He opened his mouth, closed it, sighed, and looked back down.

"Yeah... Could we just leave them out of the loop...at least for a while?"

Roy watched Hughes carefully. It didn't seem like this would be reason enough to completely block his family out, but if that was what Hughes wanted...

Roy leaned forward and softly kissed Maes on the cheek.

"Alright. But they deserve to know at some point. I'll let my subordinates know not to tell them."

Hughes nodded, absentminded again.

"I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

Maes turned and abruptly stepped out of Roy's office. He walked into the single bathroom and locked the door before sinking to his knees and sobbing gently into his hands. He really hated having to lie to Roy like that, but it was all he could do.

**End Chapter 8**

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Yah I know, I don't think Ed would have given up that easily either. But for the story's sake...moo.

Expect strange things from the next chapter on as I tried to wrap up the prologue. I like totally warped the story man. I swear, I _had_ to have been high on _something._ Probably overload of milk. I am a milkoholic...

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** Ewww...-wipes drool off of chapter 7- Ah yes, as I say, freakiness makes the world go round... -Voice: I thought you said wierdos make the world go round? -Me Quiet you! I'm not doing what the voices tell me to anymore! I'm Freeeeeeeeeeee -slams head into randoms pole- Oww...

Alright, guess I'll call you Duet! Mehehehee duet is like...that singy thingy...-smacks self-

Yes people, revieeeeewww! I am now going to stop continually posting shapters and give you a chance to review so do it! I beg of yuuuuuu...

Strawberrypawpaw popsicles are awesum. -drools- gah now I want one...


	9. Chapter 9: Bloody Valentine

Okay. First off, thank you for all the wondeful reviews. I will reply to them at the end of this chapter.

However, earlier tonight two of my sister's friends from school, one of them her recent ex-boyfriend, were killed in a car accident. It's all very surreal.

Don't let this keep you from being your happy selves, I just may be a little off for a while, If you know what I mean.

Sorry for pushing this onto you guys, just thought you had a right to know why I might not be quite as happy-go-lucky as normal. I am drowning myself in music, so that should help. I know the chapter name does not completely relate to the story, I guess it's because of what happened. I think I may be in a little bit of shock. Also it's about four days until my sister's birthday on the 28th.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

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**Chapter 9: Bloody Valentine**

The next three days passed normally. There were no free offices for at least four days, so in the meantime they moved another desk into the Colonel's office and he worked there. Every morning he would be ill, and then be perfectly fine moments afterwards. For the most part he was fine at work except for a couple other times, but not bad enough to throw up. Alphonse thought maybe he had a stomach virus, but no one else seemed to think so.

Roy, Ed and Al were getting closer to a solution to running the country. They were thinking maybe all three could do it, because they all had very different minds and could come to better conclusions on things. Only this also meant they would argue a lot and it was a short-term solution.

It seemed the second day Roy had made Ed exceptionally mad, and as he was storming out of his office, slipped a few small pieces of paper onto Hughes' desk.

Pictures of Alicia. Apparently he hadn't completely demolished all the pictures Hughes had forced him to keep.

So once again the military was no longer safe during the day, bombarded by Hughes and his 'super-cute' daughter (She's just so cute when she's finger painting! Look at that work of art! Good enough for the Central museum, right? Right?)

There had been no progress towards finding the one who had transmuted Hughes like this. They didn't know how many people were involved. Basically all they knew was that someone did it, and there was a lot of smoke, some light and someone screaming. The smoke was expected with a transmutation like that one, and alchemy always gave off light. However, they couldn't figure out why there would be light after the transmutation was finished and why someone would be screaming.

Also, everyday, here and there, whenever Roy and Maes had the chance to be alone, they would embrace and kiss and run fingers through one another's hair and run hands over each other's bodies and just let the other know that they were still there and wouldn't leave them. At night Roy had wanted to let Maes share his bed, but he had refused, saying he didn't want to wake up in the morning and puke all over him, and he continued to use the couch. So every night Roy would lay on the far side of his bed, watching Maes until they both fell asleep.

And so it continued for those three days, until the fourth day came.

The day started out as usual, Roy waking up and holding Maes until he was done being sick, washing up, and going to work. In the mid-afternoon Roy was in the middle of kissing his way up Hughes' neck when he stopped and grinned. Hughes blinked and looked down at him.

"Why'd you stop?"

"You know it's Valentine's Day today, right?"

"What about it?"

"You know that new restaurant that opened up?"

"Maybe. Why?"

"Want to go? Right now?"

Hughes just sort of stared with his mouth open for a few moments, until he noticed Roy looked like he might be second-guessing his offer by his reaction. Hughes grinned and drew him into a bear hug.

"Of course I'd like to go."

Not long after they were in Roy's car, on their way to the new restaurant, when he came to a sudden halt. Hughes lifted his head from where he had rested it on his hand and looked at Roy, a puzzled expression making its way across his face.

"Something wrong, Roy? Why'd you stop?"

Roy simply thrust his head slightly towards the window on Hughes' side, gesturing towards it. He turned to look and his eyes grew wide.

His house.

He was too busy being shocked that he hadn't noticed Roy get out and come around to the passenger seat until he had already opened his door. Roy held out a hand for him, then frowned.

"You okay Maes? You're shaking. Are you sick again?"

Hughes looked down at his hands. They _were_ shaking rather violently. He had no idea why he felt so scared, so terrified, but he was and he didn't like it at all.

He found himself standing up, ignoring Roy's outstretched hand, and making his way to the house as if in a daze. He could vaguely hear Roy calling after him, asking him what he was doing, but his brain didn't register the words.

He didn't know how he knew, but he did. He knew that when he saw Gracia's garden it would be filled with weeds. He knew that the door would be left slightly ajar, knew that the house would be dark and lifeless, knew that when he walked into the kitchen he would find Gracia sitting in the corner, knew that she would be pale and sickly and knew that when she looked up, her eyes would be hollow and empty with nothing left but a flicker of insanity.

**End Chapter 9**

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Okay, I'm going to give happy replies. Or to the best of my ability, my brain feels a bit scrambled. You know why if you read my a/n at the top.

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** Heh, you're making sense. I think. Hmm.

Well, at least one of those guesses is at least close. Or is it? uuuh...>.>

didn't think my story would freak anyone out O.o Or maybe I did...-memory loss at work-

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** Wow, an actual fan? Didn't expect that. Can I use you when it gets too hot? -coughbadjokecough-

Yah, well, I'll forgive you for drooling on my precious story this time, but next time...-scowls-

**Mauzkateer:** Yah, I love it when they fight like that, they're so kawaii-loveable -huggles them- Although alot of authorsseem to make it look as thoughEd hates Roy's guts and vice versa, but I think they respect each other rather deeply under all that. Or if you like EdxRoy like me...mehehehe...

You should find out why Hughes gets sick in the next chapter or so. I think at leastone of the upcoming chapters is a long one...didn't check.

**NubianQueen413:** Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.

heh, yes, must luv the MaesxRoy...must I say! Yes I'm talking to you! -points at randonm reader-

Some replies are kinda short, sorry. Thank you to the reviewers and to the readers, but please take the time to review.

Well, 'till next time I suppose. This is a bit of a cliffhanger isn't it? -laughs maniacally-


	10. Chapter 10: Truth

Thanks for all your reviews and kind words, it means a lot to me.I'm feeling better now, there are plenty of other people who knew them a lot better than me.

But anyways, let's move on.

So here it is, chapter 10. Only two more after this. And I've actually started on the main story -w00t- only, as usual, it has no title yet. However I am trying to make the chapters longer and more detailed, and I am working on putting more and better hughesxroy in it, since the shounen ai in here was pretty much mush. In a bad way. I haven't even finished the first chapterof the main storyand they're all over each other. XD Okay well maybe not all over each other, but close to it.

Yah, and keep in mind, the main story will be my first in-progress story that I will post, and I am no good at creating any sort of plot before I start writing. It just sorta comes as I go. >.> I hope that doesn't cause me to hit a dead end because of something I wrote in a previous chapter. I'm sure I would find a way around it. Mebbe. >.

But anyways, I looked over this chapter, and one: I know. Monologue. Ugh. I couldn't think of any other way to explain it all, and I have this problem where I neeeeed to have things explained. It comes with my mental unstableness. So yah, this chapter most likely has the most ooc in it. -sob- But it's finally starting to wrap up. Be happy!

I know one day in the future when I'm well into the main story I will look back at this story and say what the crap is this junk? Ugh! >.

**Random Quote**: -Kakashi (from the anime Naruto)- Hello gentlemen. Sorry for being late. A cute girl stopped me on the way, so I danced. -Naruto and Sakura- A lie!

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**Chapter 10: Truth**

Roy had watched him begin walking up to the house, his words having no effect. Worried that something was obviously wrong, he had followed him into the house, surprised at the fact the every light was shut off. That surprise did not compare to when he stepped into the kitchen to find Hughes staring down at the frail-looking woman in the corner. He spoke quietly, afraid that she may not be alive at all.

"Gracia...?"

He sighed with relief when she stirred, ever so slightly, at the sound. Suddenly Hughes had stepped forward and was kneeling in front of his wife, his hand slowly reaching up to touch her cheek. She barely reacted, although her eyes showed slight recognition.

Roy could only watch as Hughes began to shake again, but didn't expect him to start speaking in such a steady voice.

"I remember now...what happened. But I guess I sort of knew all along, didn't I? I just refused to believe it and forced myself to forget..."

The corners of her mouth turned up into a weak smile, and she slowly lifted a hand to his cheek. She seemed so fragile, and although it had only been about four days, she apparently had lost the will to live somewhere along the line, causing her to deteriorate much more quickly.

Roy bit his lip as he watched. It pained him to see such a strong woman fall to pieces like this.

"Hughes, what happened? Will you tell me?"

He could see only his friend's hunched back as he knelt in front of his wife, but he could sense his tears.

"Gracia... is an alchemist. She never wanted anyone to know, and I promised never to tell anyone..."

Roy flinched. And alchemist? She had always seemed so content doing things the conventional way...If she didn't use alchemy, how could she be an alchemist? It didn't make sense. If she never used it then she _wasn't_ an alchemist, she just knew how to use alchemy. But no, he was thinking to hastily. He just needed to listen right now.

"She loved doing normal things, cooking, housework, raising a family... But she was the descendent of a family of powerful alchemists. She had always had many heirlooms tucked away in the basement, ancient alchemy tools, chalk holders, molded alchemy arrays... Every now and then she would show me one and explain its history, what it was used for... And whenever she had an urge to do alchemy she would go down into the basement and create something. And she _would_ get urges, she couldn't help it, it was in her blood."

"However, it would always be something simple, a rocking chair from logs, a new teapot from metal scraps... She would grow restless, wanting to do something _more_ than just these things, but at the same time she would forbid it, wanting to live out her life as a normal woman..."

"One day she lost one of her favorite heirlooms, a molded alchemy array used to blend and create new breeds of flowers. I didn't ask her, but I went down into the basement to make sure she hadn't just overlooked it down there."

"I made sure to put everything back carefully, but I came across a small, strange lead box, lined with pewter skulls. I couldn't help but peek inside."

Hughes was slowly caressing his wife's cheek as he spoke, and she held his hand as he did so, her face showing little as to her thoughts, if she was thinking much at all. Roy listened intently, feeling more and more uncomfortable at the scene before him and the story Hughes was telling.

" Inside was the most beautiful gem I'd ever seen. It was twice the size of a pearl, and as perfectly smooth and round as one. It glowed with a fierce red light, but there was more of a yellow light at its core. Gracia came down at that time and saw me, and rather nervously asked me to put it back. I did as she asked, and she looked strangely relieved once I'd shut the lid. I decided not to ask her again. I never found out what it was."

His face became grim, despite Roy couldn't see it.

"Until the day Gracia tried to bring me back. Apparently after my death she had watched Ed and Al, noting from their mistakes and advances. In the end, she must have tried to come up with a flawless plan to bring me back."

He could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks, yet Gracia simply watched him with her empty stare, as if in anticipation of the story's end.

"Her plan must have been to first create a Homunculus, second, bind my soul to it, and finally, turn me into a human, all in her basement. Only, you must be wondering, how could she manage this without giving up her life? It seemed... that stone was the most perfected Philosopher's stone to date. Quite a 'prestigious' family indeed."

Roy was breathless now. Most perfected stone to date... what kind of bloodshed had her family gone through to create it? But besides that...How did Maes know all of this...

" She had succeeded at creating the Homunculus, and because she had that stone with her, she was able to create one already in human shape, most likely compacting some of the lives inside of the stone to create Red Stone already inside of it... She trapped that homunculus in a special barrier using a complex array passed down in her family... and explained everything to it as if it were me, maybe to help her stay calm. After all, she already knew it was going to become me eventually..."

Roy watched as his friend shuddered. Was it...with anger?

" I can remember what that Homunculus was feeling and thinking. I can remember as it sat patiently, its anger rising as it tried to find a way out. After she had finished, she had gone to draw her next array. The minutes ticked past as the Homunculus' impatience grew, wanting to find a way out, not wanting to become a vessel for this woman's lover. The array was centered around the homunculus, and she about to begin her next transmutation. Then..."

"You remember, Roy, how it was storming when I came to you? The thunder had scared Alicia, and she couldn't find her mother in her room. So she went to the next place she would probably be, the basement... She was already feet away from the array when Gracia realized she was there... She yelled for her to get back, but she had already started the transmutation, and Alicia had spotted the Homunculus, and began running towards it, crying 'daddy...'"

There was a moment of silence, only broken by Hughes' muffled cries as he tried to calm himself down enough to continue.

"At that time, the Homunculus had discovered that it could pass through walls and did just that. It began leaping towards Alicia, but was stopped short as the transmutation took over. The next thing I knew I had inhabited the Homunculus. However, I could barely see through the smoke from the transmutation and suddenly saw a light and heard Gracia scream... I ran towards it, and found myself in front of that horrid Gate..."

Roy gasped. The gate...the one Ed had told him about...

Hughes lifted one hand to his face. That gate...he loathed it with a passion that he didn't understand. Why did it have to look so familiar?

'Black arms had reached out of the gate and grabbed Alicia, dragging her in, as Gracia tried to stop them, screaming for them to give her back. But they didn't, and Alicia was crying and calling for mommy and daddy... And then it closed, and was gone. I stood there, unable to move or believe what just happened. Finally Gracia turned to look at me. And she said to me..."

Gracia interrupted him.

"I hate you. I tried so hard to bring you back and this is what I get in return? Isn't that what I said?"

The insane glimmer in her eye had grown to a full shine, and her voice dripped with malevolence. She slowly stood up, her weakened legs supporting her firmly now.

"And... And then I said, you never loved her! You hated her, and you took her away from me!"

Hughes had fallen onto his back, supported slightly by his elbows. Roy could see the same terror on his face as from the night he had arrived at his house...

She was all but screaming now.

"Then I trapped you in my barrier, but even that power you took away from me! You walked right out of it! And you ran away from me! I yelled after you, cursed you, but you kept running! I lost my daughter to bring you back, and this is how you repay me? I loved you!"

By now Hughes was a miserable sight. He had curled into a ball, holding his hands over his head in a futile attempt to block out her words. Roy couldn't see his face, but he knew he was crying the same despair as he had the night he had found him.

The Colonel stood planted to the ground. He wasn't sure what to do. Gracia was no longer the woman he had known, only a saneless shell of herself. But even so, he felt he couldn't attack her, it might destroy the last of Maes' sanity as well...

He realized that Maes had managed to uncurl himself and was holding his stomach, vomiting a mess onto the floor. Gracia suddenly stopped, and leaned over him, a disgusted look on her face that Gracia never would have expressed.

"Oh? And what's this? Because you went through the trouble to take my daughter away from me, you damaged the array! You damaged the soul attachment! And now look at you, being sick all over my kitchen floor! You're just like the monster Tucker made his daughter into! You're even worse!"

This had to stop. Her logic was twisted in on itself with her insanity. Roy dropped to his knees, drawing a piece of chalk from a hidden pocket. He swiftly drew out a simple array and placed his hand on it. Ropes shot from the ground and wound themselves about the crazed woman. She struggled violently against them.

"Let me go you damned bastard! When will it be enough for you? When will I have suffered enough? Let me go!"

Roy rushed forward and grabbed Hughes, who was shaking on the floor, still clutching his stomach. He found him to be surprisingly light. He rushed outside onto the lawn with Maes slung over his shoulder, depositing him onto the grass. It was no wonder that no one had come running at the sound of her screaming. He could barely hear her now; the house was well soundproofed. Not to mention most people were out on dates right now.

He shook his head, that wasn't important. He kneeled down next to Hughes. His breath came in pained gasps and his hand was clawing at his stomach.

"She's right Roy...I'm imperfected... that's why I'm always ill. I'm just some failed experiment, and I destroyed her life, and Alicia's..."

Hughes bit his lower lip until it bled. Roy found himself breaking into sobs. He didn't know how to help when his friend needed him the most... No... he was more than a friend now.

Roy leaned over Maes' body and embraced him tightly, willing for his pain to stop, he couldn't bear seeing him in so much physical and mental agony.

"Hey..."

Roy loosened his grip enough to lift his head, hoping to see Maes look perfectly fine again, as he always did after every time. But he was obviously still in pain.

"Since I'm imperfect..."

He gingerly pointed to his head, as if the simple movement of his hand hurt him.

"I can feel that homunculus' mind is still here... I think he wants out."

Before these words could sink in, Hughes flinched as if struck and passed out in his arms.

**End Chapter 10**

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Fuwaaah! Isn't that just freaky? Seriously, what was I high on when I wrote this? O.o I mean, I totally slaughtered Gracia in more ways than one. -hides from any gracia fans- Sorreh! I needed a plot device! Mwahahaha do I even know what a plot device is? -ponders- 

Okay, review time! (I told yah yu could be your happy selves people! Oh well, thanks XD)

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** -buys you an imaginary car- Hey, I only have imaginary money. Thanks.

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** Thankies, hope you like this chapter -twitch- okay maybe this chapter scares me. -twitch-

**Mauzkateer:** Aww, yournice -huggles- thankies. They actually had people come talk to the football players (the people killed were on the football team) and they talked to the marching band too about dealing with stress and coping when someone you know dies. The funeral will be at school too. But enough about the sad stuff. Happy happy joy joy! -sprinkles rainbows and lollipops on random people-

Okay, random afterthought. Everyone here is probably older than me -sob- But that's not bad, as long as no one has a grudge against the young O.o

Must. Write. More. NOOOW. -squiggles away- Please review, plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz! Thankies. -huggles for all-

gah, I just went through and checked over my a/n, and fixed a bazillion mistakes. -stabs brain with pencil-


	11. Chapter 11: Homunculus

O.o fufufu... I had just recently realized how frooking short this chapter is. Like, just over 200 words. 202 without the chapter title and end x.x. Its like, veryshort drabble-length. So here's the deal. Sooner and more you review, sooner I'll post the last chapter! >. not that it's anything to look forward to. But rejoice! I have finishe dthe first chapter of the main story, and it starts of with much shounen-ai fluffiness! XD Only at some point I started influencing my writing with music -twitch- may have mutilated it. Or maybe not.

Alright, well, read. Thankies for your reviews! zomg people actually _liked_ chapter ten! I think I really freaked myself out with that chapter O.o Oh, and I haven't really thought about Roy's eyepatch much >. I think at least every now and then I said 'eye' instead of 'eyes' when talking about roy, but please ignore any wierd things with that o.x

**Random Quote:** Me: -implodes-

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**Chapter 11: Homunculus**

Roy could only watch as his human form morphed back into his Homunculus one. The clothing covering his tattoo burned away, creating a hole in the middle of the black fabric. The tattoo glowed eerily, and Roy had enough sense to let go of him just as the Ouroboros array bled overtop of the soul-binding one.

The homunculus opened his eyes, looking around for a moment as if in a daze. He caught sight of Roy sitting there with his mouth hanging open in shock. It leapt to its feet, and looked down at Roy with a condescending look that could only compare to Roy's own.

"Tell me where the woman is and I'll let you live."

Roy flinched at the coldness in his voice and eyes, and found he felt like curling up into a ball as Hughes had done minutes before. He looked towards the house. The creature followed his gaze and noticed the muffled screaming coming from inside the house. It grinned, revealing its unnaturally sharp teeth, and sprinted towards the door, disappearing inside as swiftly as a phantom. Roy sat utterly still as he heard the screaming cut off by a strangled yell, followed by a soft thud. Silence.

**End Chapter 11**

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Review time!

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** Wow, you really thought it was amazing? I thought ti was freakeh and too much monologue -sob- I promise try avoid too much monologue-ing in the future T.T

poor Elysia-chan -sob- >. 

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** Yu car wrecker! You know how much thinking I had to endure to think up the imaginary money for that? -fishfwap-

Glad yu like it I suppose XD its till scared me >.> oh well. XD

Arigato everyone! PLz leave more reviews, remember, the more ya review tha sooner I'll get the last chapter up and then onto the main stroy! -which still has no title- T.T


	12. Chapter 12: Beginning

Here it is! The final chapter of the Prologue: Sorrow. Dunno if any of yu are looking forward to it, but soon I should have up the first chapter of the main story, but first I have to change some things and come up with a name! -sob- But yeh. -points to story- Feel the angst. x.x

As I said, the chapters in the main story will be longer and more detailed. Or at least I think they're more detailed. -sob-

I have started to read the fma manga! I knew it would be different, but not THAT different! it makes the anime seem like some sort of AU fananime-ish thingy O.o I mean seriously, they are two entirely different stories. I'm gonna haff to stick to the anime's storyline for this story cuz that's what I based it on, but if I ever finish the manga I may write a fic based on that, because it's that awesum! Yes I know too many exclamation marks. >. But now I can probably write better stuff about Roy's subordinates, as they shine forth much more in the manga. -w00t-

I know. I called the chapter beginning. How original. Actually, its so un-original it hurts. -sob- Oh well. I'm writing a _fan_fic, what do i know about originality?

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**Chapter 12: Beginning**

He didn't know what time it was when he came to. He grunted softly and shifted his position. He was on a bed, most definitely. He could feel soft rays of light falling across his frame, and he glanced in the direction of the light. A window. Roy's window.

Hughes tried to sit up only to find he felt extremely weak. The arm he had tried to lift himself on gave out and his head fell back onto the pillows. His head felt light and his stomach was slightly upset, but it was nowhere near what he had been feeling recently.

At this time Roy walked into the room. His hair was bit messy and he was out of uniform, wearing a casual white buttoned shirt and dark baggy jeans. His eye widened when he saw that he was awake.

"Damn you Hughes! Didn't I tell you not to scare me like that? I thought you'd never wake up!"

Hughes blinked.

"How long was I out?"

Roy opened his mouth, then stopped, and mumbled.

"Well...since last night."

Hughes laughed and tried to sit up again. It was much easier, but still a little difficult. Being a Homunculus he wouldn't be weak for long...

Last night rushed back to him. He had set the Homunculus' mind free.

"Eh...Roy...are you wondering about what happened yesterday?"

It was Roy's turn to blink as he looked at Maes oddly.

"You mean you know?"

Well, at least he knew what he was referring to.

"Yeah... You know this is a homunculus' body, right? But homunculus don't have souls, and they aren't human. That was why Gracia was able... to attach my soul to it. But since the transmutation was imperfect, the Homunculus' mind is still here. But don't worry,"

He quickly added as his Roy began to look worried.

"I'm not gonna go schizo on you or anything. I always knew he was there, in the back of my mind. But he's just there. The reason he surfaced was... I didn't really want to be there anymore. So much for facing my fears, eh?"

He suddenly looked tired, and his eyes revealed his weariness.

"Where is Gracia now?"

Roy sighed and walked up to the bed, seating himself on the edge next to Hughes.

"She was taken to the Demwal Asylum."

Hughes tugged absentmindedly at the fabric of the blanket. So she was alive.

_He felt numb, his entire body moving, acting and thinking on its own. The mind doing the thinking acknowledged he was there, but didn't ponder further on that fact. He felt, but didn't feel himself moving at an alarming speed towards the door and found himself in the kitchen a moment later. He saw in a half-daze, through eyes not in his control, his wife, bound by ropes Roy had conjured. He half-saw half-felt his hand pulling one of his knives out of a pouch at his side. The hand raised, ready to strike. He could feel the creature's mind contemplating whether to slit her throat or pierce her heart. He felt his daze lift slightly. You won't do this. I won't let you. Oh, but you let me out, didn't you? You were too afraid to face your precious lover, so you wanted me to do it for you. So that's what I'm going to do. No! Stop! She doesn't deserve this! He could feel the numb-dazed feeling lifting, and he could feel the homunculus faltering. Before it lost control and was once again banished to the corner of his mind, it lashed out blindly with the blade, feeling it slice through something solid before fading to black._

"I'm not quite sure what happened when y-...that thing went in there, but when I followed, you were lying on the floor, supposedly you again. Gracia had passed out as well, her ropes cut. It seemed she had finally passed out from lack of sleep and malnutrition, among other things."

Hughes bit his lip, his mind a mess. He found himself thinking that it may have actually been a good thing in various ways if Gracia had died. He frantically pushed those thoughts out of his head. It wasn't her fault that she had ended up like this. He had been reckless, overconfident, following that secretary alone when he knew what might happen. To top that off, he had still gone off on his own to deal with that homunculus disguised as Ross without any help from someone more experienced in battle. He should have known he couldn't face them alone, seeing what had happened to the Elrics. And he probably did know, but never thought death would sneak up on him so suddenly.

He found himself chuckling quietly, and Roy gave him a questioning look. He had gone into it like a reckless teenager, subconsciously believing he was invincible. Now not only had he lost his life, it had been thrown back in his face at the cost of his daughter's life and his wife's sanity. He found himself feeling rather numb again.

Roy twiddled his thumbs, keeping Hughes in the corner of his vision. His eyes looked blank and he was clearly in deep thought. What would happen now? Roy had gone to war before as a soldier, had seen bloodshed and people dying and horrors beyond the average man's imagination. He had seen people slowly lose their sanity, had to watch them day by day as the life slowly fled their eyes and was replaced by something else, until they finally snapped on the battlefield, in the end ordered to death by their own comrades. It would never become a normal thing for him. It would always terrify him having to see people fall into madness, and horrify him even more when he had found himself almost falling slowly, but surely to the same fate. Maes had never known anything so gruesome.

But Roy had made it through that, and that was behind him. He needed it to be behind him. He needed to worry about the now, and now he needed to help Hughes. He edged closer to him and softly kissed his forehead.

Maes snapped out of his ponderings and jerked his head up to look at Roy. He found his stress and worries washing away as he saw the caring look on his face, an emotion he had never seen from him before. Hughes suddenly grinned widely and wrapped his arms round Roy's waist, pulling him down onto the bed and bringing his head and shoulders up to rest on his chest.

Roy let out a small yelp as he was dragged onto the bed. He struggled weakly against Maes' grip, not really wanting him to let go. He felt Maes' head resting on his own. The rough stubble of his chin upon his head felt... nice. He relaxed, bringing his hands up to hold onto Hughes' arms.

"Maes... I'm going to fix everything." His body, Gracia's mind, Alicia... "I don't care what I have to do, I'll do it... I promise you I'll do it."

"No."

Roy's head jerked, but he refrained from moving it so as not to disturb Hughes' chin.

"What do you mean, no?"

"Please ...I don't want to you to destroy your life fixing mine. I don't want..."

To lose you.

Roy closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax against Maes' chest.

" I _will_ find a way. And I won't lose my life doing it. I promise."

Hughes smiled, but couldn't keep the tears back anymore. Promises could be too easily broken.

_-At Hughes' Home-_

_The investigation team had arrived at the Brigadier General's house. Not much was found; all the lights as well as various objects around the house were broken or smashed. Alicia's room seemed to be untouched, cobwebs forming in the corners. Many photos were discovered, torn or crumpled, all depicting Hughes. The basement was a mess of chalk, paints, and boxes, various arrays covering the floor._

_A woman shouted orders, and they spread out, taking pictures and gathering things into clear bags marked 'evidence.' She walked slowly towards the back of the room, recognizing the various arrays left scribbled among the boxes placed along the walls. She stopped at the two large arrays in the back of the room. She had never seen anything like them. A small red object caught her eye. She kneeled down, stared at its red-yellow glow for a moment, and swiftly scooped it into a small black cloth bag, embroidered with the letters C.M._

**End Prologue**

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Yar, weren't expecting that were yu? Or maybe you were because yur psycic and can read my mind from wherever you are sitting right now and -cough- Anywayz. Review time! 

**Duet Maxwell Shinobi of Wind:** Oh, but I can write much freakier stuff than that! -laughs maniacally- What? You want proof? uuh...Look a one eyed one horned purple people eater! -escapes- Yes I know, nothing I do is original -sob-

**NubianQueen413:** This is for yourreviews from both chapters 10 and 11-

Yah I know,I completely slaughtered Gracia's image, making her fooking mad and all. Fear not, the main story will have much yaoi for your obsessiveness! muwahahahaa...

Yes, the homunculus thing ish teh freakers...if you understood that -twitch-

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** No seriously! First I had to think up the concept of imaginary money, thenI had to poke my brain cells with a stick until they woke up and then I had to think up the money! Poking your own brain cells hurts yah know. Especially with a stick. Sharp ones. -shudder-

Yes I know I'm evil I killed elysia-chan! She was cute too! I wouldn't mind having Hughes show me pictures of his daughter... -leaps off a cliff-

Well, you can see from this chappie she didn't die >. I know I killed Elysia but I couldn't kill Gracia >. too much killing of tha main characters will make the voices in my head want to kill all of them O.o then there would be nothing to write the fic on but a buncha buildings in central...describing buildings is not fun XD

'Til next time folks! Hope i didn't forget anything... or mess anything up O.o -poofs-


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